August 2012

August 27, 2012

There are many more foods which exacerbate
chronic inflammation than foods which directly cause it. In other words,
there are specific nutrients which, when consumed by healthy
individuals, will have both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory
effects, but when these same nutrients are consumed by people who
already suffer from chronic inflammation, their effect is much more pro-inflammatory.

It should also be noted that the most important role food plays in
chronic inflammation is not what we do eat, but what we don't eat enough
of. Fruits, vegetables, and most crucially spices all play a
huge role in turning down the levels of pro-inflammatory messengers. It
can be hypothesized that the biggest role pro-inflammatory foods have is
that they replace anti-inflammatory foods in our diet, making it more
about balancing inflammatory foods than completely removing them.

How Spices and Herbs Fight Inflammation

A lot of attention has been focused recently on turmeric as an
anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer spice. Turmeric does contain a high
number of active anti-inflammatory and disease preventing compounds, but
the truth is that every spice and herb
contains anti-inflammatory compounds, usually at least three. And,
whereas most drugs target only single pathways, the anti-inflammatory
compounds found in herbs and spices target multiple pathways, meaning they provide health in many ways, not just one.

All spices turn down the production of TNFa, NFkB, IL-6, and other
inflammatory messengers. When combined with foods which may provide a
pro-inflammatory effect, the herbs and spices help keep our immune
response in check. Many of the same herbs and spices also aid in the
prevention of cancer, by turning down NFkB activity. Some of the active
compounds have been also been shown to be chemosensitizers--they help
chemotherapy target the cancerous cells while protecting the healthy
ones at the same time!